Study Findings

Articles + Chapters

Giddings, S., Grimes, S.M., & Jayemanne, D. (2025). The apparatus of postdigital play: playgrounds, games and building blocks. In Field, H., Highmore, B, & Giddings, S. (Eds.) Playthings and Playtimes: Play, Affect and Material Culture in a Ludic World (pp.109-127). University College London Press.

Grimes, S.M. & McNair, R. (2025). Parental controls on children’s tech devices are out of touch with child’s play. The Conversation, July 6.

Giddings, S., Grimes, S.M., & Jayemanne, D. (2025). The apparatus of postdigital play: playgrounds, games and building blocks. In Field, H., Highmore, B, & Giddings, S. (Eds.) Playthings and Playtimes: Play, Affect and Material Culture in a Ludic World (Chapter 6). University College London Press.

Grimes, S.M. (2024). What Roblox’s safety updates mean for its users. The Conversation, Dec. 8.

Swerdfager, B., McNair, R., and Bui, A. (2024). What children think about “age appropriateness” in games. Joan Ganz Cooney Center Blog, Nov. 4.

Grimes, S.M., Jayemanne, D., & Giddings, S. (2023). Rethinking Canada’s approach to children’s digital game regulation. Canadian Journal of Communication 28 (1): 142-162.

Reports

Swerdfager, B., Grimes, S.M., McNair, R., & Bui, A. (2024). CAGD Project Report: Year One. Kids Play Tech Lab and KMDI.

Bui, A., Grimes, S.M., McNair, R., & Swerdfager, B. (2024). Year 1 Findings: Focus Groups with Kids. Infographic. Kids Play Tech Lab and KMDI.

Bui, A., Grimes, S.M., & Brown, D. (2022). The Media Ratings Project Report: A Cross-Cultural and Cross-Media Comparative Analysis. KMDI.

Commentaries:

Grimes, S.M. (2024, August) Children’s Privacy Code. Response to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s (OPC) Exploratory consultation on the development of a children’s privacy code: Call for comments (Ottawa, ON).

McNair, R., & Grimes, S.M. (2024, September) Feedback on the Exploratory Consultation on Privacy and Age Assurance. Response to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s (OPC) Age assurance exploratory consultation: Call for Comments (Ottawa, ON). https://hdl.handle.net/1807/139606

Beauvais, M., Grimes, S.M., Jayemanne, D., Giddings, S. (2022). Children’s Privacy and Video Games: Comments on Commercial Surveillance. Response to the US Federal Trade Commission’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking on commercial surveillance and data security (ANPR R111004) (Washington, DC). https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/sdzua

Public Outreach:

Grimes, S.M. (2025). Children’s Right to Privacy in the Digital World. Invited panelist (Webinar). 5Rights Foundation and the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children (CCRC), Jul. 21, Virtual.

Grimes, S.M. (2025). Children, media, and the right to know: Exploring UNCRC Article 17 in practice. Invited panelist (Webinar). Canadian Coalition for the Rights of the Child, May 23, Montreal/Virtual.

Grimes, S.M. (2025). Growing up online: Understanding youth internet trends, subcultures, and relationships (Webinar). Invited speaker. Children and Screens: Ask The Expert Webinar series, May 21, New York/Virtual.

Grimes, S.M. (2025) Interviewed for the MediaSmarts Talks podcast, episode “What’s the deal with tech bans for kids?” (March 14), Produced by MediaSmarts | HabiloMedias, Ottawa, ON.

Grimes, S.M., & McNair, R. (2024). Stronger together: Engaging parents and children as partners in trust and safety. Workshop at the TrustCon 2024, 3^rd Annual Conference of the Trust and Safety Professionals Association, July 22-24, San Francisco, California.

Grimes, S.M. (2024). Video game chat. Invited speaker, Grades 4, 5, and 6 classes at Queen Elizabeth Elementary School, Feb. 16, Kazabazua, QC.

Grimes, S.M., Bozdech, B., Jayemanne, D., & Levy, A. (2023). What does “age appropriate” mean to and for children? Connected Learning Summit, October 28, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA.

Grimes, S.M. (2023). Age-appropriate design in digital games for children. Invited speaker, LEGO Group UX Research Network, October 23, Billund, Denmark.

(2023) Sara was featured and interviewed on the Designing for Children’s Best podcast, episode “What’s (age) appropriate?” (May 12), Produced by Designing for Children’s Rights International Association, Charlottenlund, Denmark. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/whats-age-appropriate/id1682238365?i=1000612786133

Grimes, S.M. (2023). Keeping the Kids in Mind: Addressing Children’s Privacy Today. International Association of Privacy Professionals Canada Privacy Symposium 2023, May 25-26, Toronto, ON.

Grimes, S.M. (2022). Age-Appropriate Design for UX. CanUX Conference, November 3-6, Gatineau, QC.

Conference Presentations

Lulu, P., & Grimes, S.M. (2025). From Mere Compliance to Major Awesomeness. Serious Play Conference, August 13-15, Rochester (NY).

Grimes, S.M., McNair, R., Swerdfager, B., & Bui, A. (2025). How game ratings fail children…and why that matters. Presented at the Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) Conference, June 7-10, Montreal.

Grimes, SM., McNair, R., Swerdfager, B., & Bui, A. (2025). From age appropriate to child appropriate: How children’s digital gaming can inform rights-based policies for regulating the digital environment. Presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Communication Association at Congress, June 2-5, Toronto.

Jayemanne, D., Grimes, S., & Giddings, S. (2024). Experience games: Youth play and the online ‘ladders’ of creative participation. Presented at the AoIR 2024 Association of Internet Researchers Conference, October 20-November 3, Sheffield, UK.

Grimes, S.M., McNair, R. Swerdfager, B., & Bui, A. (2024). “AS SEEN ON… wait, video games?”: An analysis of children’s responses to commercialization in digital games. Presented at the 2024 Child and Teen Consumption Conference, October 16-18, Toronto, ON.

Grimes, S.M., Swerdfager, B., & McNair, R. (2024). Child appropriate game design: Year 1 findings. Presented at the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference, July 1-5, Guadalajara, México.

Grimes, S.M. (2024). What kids think is “age-appropriate” in games. Panel at the Canadian Communication Association Annual Conference at Congress, June 18-21, Montreal, QC.

Bui, A., & Jayemanne, D. (2024). Behind the parental controls the disconnect in how age-based safety settings in games are seen by parents, children, and developers. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association Annual Conference, June 18-21, Montreal, QC.

Swerdfager, B., & Grimes, S.M. (2024) “Some kids like scary stuff”: A qualitative analysis of emergent themes surrounding scariness as a measure of age-appropriateness in children’s gaming. Presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Communication Association, June 18-21, Montreal, QC.

McNair, R., & Giddings, S. (2024). Understanding the role of online influencers in children’s gaming cultures. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association Annual Conference, June 18-21, Montreal, QC.

Swerdfager, B., Bui, A., McNair, R. & Grimes, S.M. (2024). “Hey! Listen!” Comments and concerns about digital games that kids have been trying to tell us. Presented at the Canadian Game Studies Association Annual Conference at Congress, June 15-18, Montreal, QC.

Grimes, S.M. (2024). Boundless play! Or…age-bans and data brokers? Keynote at the 13th Annual International Symposium on Digital Ethics, Mar. 14, Chicago, Illinois.

Grimes, S.M. (2023). The politics of age-gating and the automation of age-based verification, restriction, and discrimination. Presented at the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Annual Meeting, November 11, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Jayemanne, D., Grimes, S.M., Giddings, S., Swerdfager, B., & Bui, A. (2023). Children, play, and age-appropriate game design. Presented at the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Annual Conference, June 19, Universidad de Seville, Seville, Spain.

Swerdfager, B., Grimes, S.M., Jayemanne, D., & Giddings, S. (2023). Rated C for child-informed: Children’s and developers’ insights on bias and discrimination in gaming. Presented at the Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) Annual Conference, June 9, Virtual Event.

Bui, A., & Grimes, S.M. (2023). This paper is not yet rated: Comparing film and game rating systems across Canada, the US, and the EU. Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) Annual Conference, June 6, Virtual Event.

Grimes, S.M. (2023). Whose best interests? The promise and limits of the age- appropriate design movement and legislative developments to date. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) Annual Conference at Congress, May 31, Toronto, ON.

Bui, A. (2023). The Media Ratings Project Report: A Cross-Cultural and Cross-Media Comparative Analysis. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) Annual Conference, May 31, Toronto, ON.

Swerdfager, B. (2023) Notions of Fair Play In Children’s Gaming. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) Annual Conference at Congress, May 31, Toronto, ON.

Giddings, S. (2023). Postindustrial Playgrounds: A Media Archaeology of Children’s Play Spaces. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) Annual Conference at Congress, May 31, Toronto, ON.

Jayemanne, D. (2023). Changing The Game: Children’s Game Platforms and Speculative Play. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) Annual Conference, May 31, Toronto, ON.

Swerdfager, B., Bui, A., Grimes, S.M., Jayemanne, D., & Giddings, S. (2023) Is ‘E’ for ‘Everybody’? Child Players, Grown-up Game Ratings, and the Shift Toward Age-Appropriate Design in Canada and the UK. International Communication Association Game Studies 2023 Preconference: Games and the (Playful) Future of Communication, May 25, Mississauga, ON.

Grimes, S.M. (2022). Children’s Rights In/And Digital Games. Presented at the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) Annual Conference at Congress, May 20, Virtual Event.